Mitigation Works

0A healthy environment can be our best protection against natural disasters whether its the restoration of wetlands that absorb floodwaters or the preservation of coastline that acts as a barrier to tropical storms. 0We cant control Mother Nature; we can affect human nature. 0 Mitigation is the cornerstone of emergency management. It is the ongoing effort to lessen the impact disasters have on people and property. Mitigation involves keeping homes away from floodplains, engineering bridges to withstand earthquakes, creating and enforcing effective building codes to protect property from hurricanes and much more. 0We have every reason to expect that our citizens will face more disasters in the future. And when we know trouble is coming, we have the moral responsibility to prepare for and prevent it.
Senior FEMA Officials

0Disaster mitigation partnerships, programs and strategies are emerging throughout the nation. Our legacy will be to have provided a safer environment and an improved quality of life for future generations.
Ernst W. Kiesling, P.E., Ph.D., Director of Shelter Program, Wind Engineering Research Program, Texas Tech University

0Nature, as we know her, is no saint.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

0A foolish man built his house upon the sand, and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell.

Mitigation Works

Matthew 7:26-27

0Hazard mitigation is not a single event, but rather, an on-going process, which evolves over time and is best done in partnership. 0With every project that I am now involved, I find myself asking if there is an opportunity for mitigation, either to reduce existing hazards or to avoid them through new approaches. 0Often, essential mitigation can be done as part of on-going maintenance, with little or no additional cost.
Peter Ryner, Community Development Director and Project Impact Coordinator, Peterborough, New Hampshire

0Each of us knows that, all too often, those who are the most affected by disasters are the most economically disadvantaged those who have the fewest means available to reduce their vulnerability. 0Any meaningful strategy to dramatically reduce disaster losses must have, as its foundation, a comprehensive effort to educate and motivate the public to take more responsibility for protecting themselves and their homes. 0The key to success is to market mitigation by capturing and sharing success stories that document the fact that disaster mitigation works and is cost-effective. 0While it is certainly true that floods leave scars that never heal, it is also true that in almost every disaster, there is a story waiting to be told about a family or a business that suffered little or no damage or loss of life because they had the foresight to take steps to reduce their vulnerability.

Mitigation Works

Ken Deutsch, Manager, Mitigation and Community Disaster Preparedness, American Red Cross

0Recent population growth, urbanization, worldwide social change, and technological advances are creating new and increasing vulnerabilities to natural hazards, and the costs of natural disasters are escalating. Inaction today compromises safety, economic growth, and environmental quality for generations to come. 0A national movement toward understanding and embracing disaster reduction activities and mitigation has begun. This movement will pay national dividends by making our country safer, by helping us live more harmoniously with the environment, and by saving money. 0Natural disasters are, undeniably, a growing problem, but progress is being made and there is reason to be optimistic. Increasingly, solutions are being found at the local level through partnerships among state and local governments and the business community. The Federal government is, however, also a critical partner in providing needed coordination, scientific expertise, long term monitoring, and guidance. This partnering role for the Federal government saves both the local communities and the US Treasury money. Effective mitigation is far cheaper than emergency response.
Margaret Lawless, Chair, Subcommittee on Natural Disaster Reduction

0Our goal is to build a culture of disaster prevention and preparednessto make hazard loss reduction a national priority and a public value. 0Every disaster is personal.

Mitigation Works

0No single organization has the time, people, or financial resources to do all that needs to be done. However, by combining our efforts, talents, skills, strengths and resources, we can accomplish what is necessary to contain the soaring social and economic costs of disasters. 0We know that just as every disaster is ultimately intensely personal, so is getting people to take the steps to make themselves and their homes safer. 0We are working hand-in-hand with our national, state, and local partners to help people identify their personal risk to natural hazards and to make disaster mitigation a personal priority. 0Recognizing that people are most likely to take mitigation seriously after a disaster strikes, as we help our clients get back on their feet again, we encourage them to rebuild their homes safer and stronger.
Dr. John Clizbe, Vice President, Disaster Services, American Red Cross